The Hunters Series

by Shiloh Walker

  “Hold her,” Eli ordered, pulling back slightly and then his fangs slid out and he sliced through the flesh of his wrist, and dark, dark crimson blood flowed. He held the bleeding wound to her mouth and caught her head tightly in one hand. “She needs strength. This will give her that. But if she fights him off…if she fights him, this may bind her.”

  Declan pressed his face into Tori’s damp hair. “She’s bound to me,” he whispered. Over and over.

  Her struggles started to slacken and he released his grip, his muscles quivering from exhaustion. “Call her,” Eli said from over her head. “Call her back, before he can snatch her again.”

  The older vampire took his bleeding wrist from her mouth and licked the remaining blood away. His saliva would have it healed in minutes. “Call her, damn it. I do not open a vein for no reason,” Eli snapped.

  Taking Tori’s cold face in his hands, Declan called her in the only way he could think of. He covered her slack mouth his and plunged his tongue deep inside her mouth, stroking her body with his hands and calling out to her with his mind and soul.

  Spearing his fingers through her hair, he arched her face up to him and kissed his mate. “Tori…damn it girl, come to me.” She was so cold…so still. Smoothing his hands down her arms, her torso and hips, Declan focused on the slow, feeble pounding he felt inside her chest as he pulled away and kissed his way from her chin to her neck, murmuring to her, “Come back to me.”

  Long moments passed and she started to warm. Then her flesh started to heat and her arms twined around his neck. He could smell her through their clothes, feel her and smell her, and the sweet ripe scent of peaches was filling the air.

  The pounding of her heart became stronger, steadier as Declan grabbed the edge of her shirt and tore it from her. The lace of her bra cupped her breasts and he lowered his face to the valley between, nuzzling the smooth flesh there as he felt her hands cup his head, his name falling from her lips on a sigh.

  Her fingers buried in his hair and Declan trailed his mouth over to lock on her pouting nipple. He bit the soft flesh roughly, leaving a mark before drawing the engorged nipple inside his mouth and sucking. When she moaned, “Declan…please…” he became ravenous, his gentle pleading hands going hard, hungry, jerking her against him, demanding a response instead of coaxing it from her.

  Tori sobbed against his mouth as he moved back up her body, wedging between her legs and driving his cock against the notch between her thighs. He caught her clutching wrists in one hand and pinned them overhead, lifting upward to stare down at her. “Mine…you’re mine. Bound to me…” His gaze moved down to stare at her upthrust breasts still framed in black lace, her pale torso quivering with each breath she took.

  His hands were pulling to free her from her pants when overhead, a wry, husky voice said, “Unless you want company, Declan, I suggest you stop. I think she is herself again.”

  Declan’s head lifted, his eyes dark and hot, to stare down at Tori. Her eyes had darkened to sapphire in her passion and he watched as her tongue darted out to lick at her lips, as if she were holding onto his taste.

  They turned as one to stare at the vampire who still knelt just a few feet away. His fangs had slid out and beneath the loose linen trousers he wore, his cock was clearly outlined. “Of course, a wolf is going to use sex to ground you,” he said, his voice sounding tight and strained. Beneath his open shirt, his muscled chest gleamed with a fine coat of sweat, and his eyes were glowing like heated gold as he stared down at them, his fangs erect and ready—hungry.

  His cock throbbed and jerked, and he absently stroked his hand against his erection through his trousers, his lids drooping as he locked his eyes on Declan’s hands which were still on Tori’s waistband.

  “Go away,” Declan growled, his fingers sliding past the barrier of silk that covered Tori’s cleft. He slid inside, shuddering when her swollen tissues clenched tightly around him.

  “This isn’t what she needs right now,” Eli said, watching Declan’s hand inside Tori’s pants. Tori’s head rolled to the side and she met his eyes, her mind clouded with lust, confusion, and hunger.

  “It’s what I need,” Declan growled pulling her pants to her knees and diving for the sweet heat that had already started to flow.

  “And if her sire calls again?”

  Tori cried out, her eyes opaque. Eli was watching hungrily as Declan’s tongue elongated, a handy little knack so many shifters had, watched as he slid that tongue inside her weeping passage. Declan’s eyes met Eli’s over the expanse of her body and he growled. The vibration shuddered up through his mouth and tongue into Tori’s body and she quaked. Declan tore his mouth away and replaced his tongue with his fingers, all the while watching Eli, as Eli watched them.

  “Her scent…” Eli rasped, his voice hot and smoky. He dropped to his hands and crawled closer to hover over her body as Declan’s fingers pumped in and out of her tight vagina.

  “Mine,” Declan warned, his voice low and rough.

  Eli reached out, quick as lightning, and Tori cried out in surprise when he flicked her clit, just quick enough to take a taste before settling back, sliding his fingers inside his mouth and watching Declan. “You started it, old friend. And I am just a man.”

  Tori was hardly aware of anything over the roaring in her ears. Just Declan’s mouth, then his hands. A second, cooler hand touched her briefly and she forced her heavy eyes to focus on the men above her. Declan’s head was lowering back to between her thighs, his eyes boring into Eli’s as he started to suckle on her pulsing clit.

  Her head rolled on the carpet until she was staring at Eli again. The man—that beautiful, commanding man—was watching them both with near desperation, licking his forefinger, his fangs erect and gleaming. Gold eyes met hers, and she tried to look away, but those eyes held her.

  Declan’s fingers worked deep inside her and she cried out when he pushed and pressed on the little spot that drove her mad, just as he bit into her clit delicately, catching the beaded flesh and pulling it tight.

  She climaxed with a scream.

  Chapter Five

  When a low, rough voice spoke over her head a few minutes later, she forced her eyes to open. Staring up, she could see Declan and Eli facing off over her supine body. Their voices came in low tones, Declan’s a throbbing growl, Eli’s a raspy, almost hissing kind of purr that incited both fear and passion.

  She felt almost full, and she wondered why, until she caught the faint hint of blood in her mouth. Somebody had fed her. The aftereffects of climax still shuddered through her, and she’d be sure to discuss sex play in front of others once she had Declan alone, but first she had to figure it out if she had enjoyed it, or if it was verboten.

  But her head…it didn’t feel right.

  She could almost feel something tugging at her, but every second she ignored it, the tugging grew weaker and weaker. A slimy, curdling sensation in her belly still lingered, as well, and for some reason, the man who had bitten her came to mind.

  “What happened?”

  They ignored her. Rising to her feet, she took a deep breath and shouted, “What happened?”

  Hard, glinting green eyes landed on her, only to soften. Declan moved closer to her and brushed her cheek. “You’re all right,” he whispered. Something that resembled fear started to fade from his eyes and he pulled her against him. “Dear God, thank You. You’re all right.”

  “I don’t know if I am or not,” she said slowly, looking up at him. His hands smoothed down her arms and she flushed a little as he pulled his shirt off and buttoned her into it before stroking down her hair. “What happened?”

  “Your sire tried to summon you,” Eli said, falling back and retreating to his chair. He dropped onto it, lounging like some giant feline creature, and studied her with those opaque gold eyes. “I believe if you had been in fighting form, you would have ignored it easily. But Declan is right—you haven’t fully fed. Until you do, you will remain weakened. And next time,
if you are alone, he may succeed.

  “You already possess a rather frightening strength of will,” he mused. “Seeing you at your full strength may be a rather frightening image.”

  “If he summoned me, why am I still here? And why do I have blood all over me?” She could feel it…taste it even. She also smelled soap and suspected one of them had tried to clean her up, but the scent of blood was unmistakable.

  “A Master can kill his creatures, the weaker ones easily, for disobeying him. He has a hold on you. It can be broken, but until it is, if he so desires, he can simply crush your brain and heart and wipe any traces of life from you,” Eli said quietly. “You have the strength of will to keep him from you, but not the strength to protect yourself. Yet.”

  “He tried to kill me?”

  “Yes.”

  Tori was pretty damn glad Declan’s arms were firmly wrapped around her. She turned in his embrace, keeping his body aligned with her back so she could meet Eli’s eyes without straining her neck. “How did you feeding me stop it?”

  “All you needed was a little strength. Well, actually a lot. You were resisting his call, but you couldn’t fight him. At full strength, you will fight him off easily.” Eli lifted his eyes to the ceiling, studying the painted swirls absently while his hand cupped his crotch. Tori’s eyes widened at the motion, and at the erection that still throbbed there.

  “You already have a bond with Declan. I fed you to give you strength, and Declan called you, grounded you, and you were able to throw your sire’s grip off. Of course, I hadn’t realized exactly what method Declan would choose to call you,” Eli murmured, his voice becoming a low, silken purr. “You’re a rather tasty little bundle, Tori McAdams.”

  She felt the warning growl rumbling up through Declan’s chest before it passed his lips. And she was all too aware of the hot sensation low in her belly. “You watched.”

  “And tasted,” Eli replied with a seductive curl of his lips. “If Declan wasn’t one of only a few I call friend, I just might be tempted to keep you for myself. And he could go fuck himself.”

  “And I have no say?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. She felt the hot wash of color flood her cheeks and her heart rate kicked up a bit in anger. Apparently Eli sensed it as well, because his eyes dropped to study the pulse in her throat.

  “As weak as you are? Not much of one,” Eli responded slowly, still studying her pulse while he started to stroke his cock as it strained and pressed against his linen trousers. “He never completed his dominance over you, this vampire who changed you. I suspect he didn’t think you would survive the change. So many don’t, especially if they are left alone to fend for themselves. Since he didn’t expect you to survive it, he felt no need to establish himself as Master.

  “It’s easy to master a newly turned vamp,” Eli finished, his odd gold eyes still fixated on her neck. Absently, almost as if he wasn’t that interested in his own arousal, he opened his pants and took his cock in hand. “So lost, so hungry. So malleable. It takes so little to establish the tiny psychic link it takes to be the Master.”

  Tori couldn’t believe she was watching a man masturbate in front of her. She dragged her eyes away, but not before her mind caught a good long look at his cock, and committed it to memory; long, pale, with a fat pink head, his furry sac cupped in his other hand.

  She turned around and faced Declan. “Such interesting friends you have,” she said, her voice shaking. She was humiliated to realize it wasn’t just embarrassment, but arousal.

  Declan’s hands rubbed up and down her arms and she was startled to see that his nails had started to elongate, that his soft green eyes were glowing hard and bright. “He is being quite the ass tonight, love,” he said, his voice rough and tight. “I think he’s a bit upset that you’d not be pleased to stay with him. Most women are drawn to him, they can’t help it. Enough, Eli. I came here because we need help. You can jack off later.”

  Eli’s head had fallen back and his eyes were closed. Tori could see his reflection in the dark pane of glass just over Declan’s shoulder. Her sharpened hearing caught a ragged sound of breathing coming from Eli—the first time she had actually noticed he breathed.

  “What if I said I wouldn’t help unless I got to fuck her?”

  Declan shifted. Tori jerked in startled surprise as he fell to the floor, writhing, his clothes splitting open and falling to shreds around his enlarging form. It was quicker this time, rougher, less controlled. Tori could feel and taste the violence that was pumping from him. She took a shaky breath, staring at the golden pelt in front of her as his clawed hands came up when he rose, and started to gently nudge her aside.

  “Declan.”

  He didn’t respond, a snarl falling from his lips as he forced the words out through his gaping mouth. “Elijah—”

  “Declan!” she bellowed it out, and to her amazement, glass cracked and the house near trembled. His fanged snout whipped in her direction and he stared down at her. Eli laughed and she turned to glare at him. “If and when I ever decide to fuck you, it will be my choice. Yes or no, it is my choice, and it won’t be as payment.”

  “So certain? I may end up owing you,” Eli pouted, his fist swallowing the head of his cock in short rapid strokes.

  The wolf beside her tensed.

  “Don’t, Declan,” she said quietly, reaching out and cautiously laying a hand on his muscled, fur-covered arm. The fur was silken there, soft, and it curled around her fingers. “Don’t. He’s pushing your buttons, Declan. Something tells me it’s a perverse pleasure of his.”

  “You’ve no idea how perverse my pleasures run,” Eli said from behind her, his voice laced with laughter. And then he sighed. “I believe I’ve taken the game too far. Nina!”

  Tori heard faint footsteps from far away but she never took her attention from Declan. She moved closer, until she could slide her arms under his, pressing her cheek against the wall of his chest. He was taller in this form, wider and more thickly built. And oddly, Tori felt safer than she had ever felt in her life.

  She nuzzled his chest with her cheek, feeling the soft, silky fur. With a turn of her neck, she pressed a kiss to a flat nipple visible through the thinner fur that covered his chest and belly and groin. “We came here for a reason, didn’t we?” she asked softly. “We’ve already been distracted once.”

  His hands closed over her arms, the claws stroking the inner part of her arm, the outer curve of her breasts, while a rumbling sigh ruffled her hair. “Do not push, Eli,” he growled over her head, his glowing eyes pinning the vampire who had risen and finally covered his massive erection.

  Roughly, Eli laughed. “I’m aware, Declan, of just how much she is yours. Too fucking bad,” he sighed just as the door swung open. “Will you be needing clothes, Declan?”

  Tori glanced down, remembering with some surprise, that Declan’s were in pieces and his pelt was the only thing he wore. He simply growled, “No,” while he wrapped one arm around Tori, stroking her head with a hand nearly the size of a dinner plate.

  He was still too angry, Tori realized. She decided, rather quickly, she wasn’t too upset by the idea of him being so possessive. Or that he was still in this rather alien form. Interesting didn’t quite begin to describe it, she figured. She wondered what it would be like to have him like this, that silken furred body between her thighs, his larger body nearly dwarfing her.

  “Very well. Nina, go out to the yard and find me a volunteer. Tori needs to feed a little before we go out,” Eli said.

  “Feed?” Tori repeated, incredulous.

  “Out?” Declan demanded.

  “You need to feed fully,” Eli said quietly, turning away from the girl who was already darting out the door. He paced closer and when he stopped Tori could have reached out and touched him. “In your youth, it is hard to feed fully without killing. We will take the edge, so to speak, off here. And then find someone deserving of what we can bring.”

  “You want me to kill somebody?” />
  “I want you strong enough to resist your sire the next time he summons you. And I want to see what will come of you,” Eli said, catching one fat curl in his hand and rubbing it with his thumb. Then he raised his eyes, dark and golden, to Declan’s. “I want to fuck her, as well. I cannot deny that, nor would you believe it.”

  “But whether or not that happens, I will do all that I can to help you protect yours, my brother,” Eli said solemnly to the wolf.

  “Excuse me, can we get back to me killing? I don’t want to kill.”

  “Wait until you see who I intend for you to kill before you make that choice,” Eli advised. “I’ve had plans for him for several weeks now, but I held off, for some reason. He never made the mistake I warned him against, so I’ve been more lenient than I should have been.”

  “I don’t want to kill—”Tori’s words were muffled when two clawed fingers covered her mouth. A shudder raced down her spine when Declan lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered roughly, “Wait until you see, Tori. Then, decide.”

  “A good suggestion.” Eli turned as the door opened again, and revealed not one man, but two. “Why am I not surprised?” he mused as they entered, staring at Tori. “Not one snack, but two.”

  Something inside Tori, something that was still far too human, revolted at the thought of treating a man as a snack. And while neither smelled as appetizing as Declan—and she doubted their blood would leave her belly filling like it was full of liquid gold like Eli’s blood had done—the scent of them, the pounding of their hearts drew her.

  “She’s not fed on her own,” Eli drawled, flopping bonelessly into his chair. “Who will break her fast?”

  The dark haired man with the Polynesian eyes and soft mouth reached her first, baring his throat by yanking his shirt open and tossing his dreadlocks aside. “I would be honored,” he whispered, his eyes raking over her pale face with an odd sort of yearning.

  “I’d advise you not to expect more than feeding, James. The wolf guarding her back will tear out your throat before she has a chance to feed. And cold blood is revolting,” Eli said.